Portuguese Connected Speech for Enhanced Pronunciation and Listening Comprehension
It is often challenging to keep up with Portuguese native speakers, even for advanced learners. This is probably not because you don’t know the words they’re saying,…
Portuguese Past Subjunctive (Imperfeito do Conjuntivo)
The Subjunctive mood is often a source of much whining and moaning among Portuguese language learners – so many conjugations one must keep track of! We have…
Portuguese Perfect vs. Imperfect Tense: Know When to Use Either
The Portuguese Perfect and Imperfect past tenses (aka Pretérito Perfeito and Pretérito Imperfeito in Portuguese) are often a headache for language learners whose native tongue doesn’t make…
Learn Portuguese: Strategies to Achieve Fluency
So you are learning Portuguese, that sounds great! There are plenty of good reasons for doing it, and I am sure you have yours. While some motivations…
Portuguese Verbs Ser vs. Estar: How and When to Use Either
In Portuguese, there are two To Be verbs: Ser and Estar. Not fully understanding their differences, language learners will often hesitate between using one or the other.…
The Imperative in Portuguese
Like other Romance languages, Portuguese has an abundance of verb forms. Adding to the pile is the Imperative mood. We use the Imperative to give instructions and commands,…
Portuguese Conjunctions – All You Need to Know
Without conjunctions, we would sound rather clumsy and inarticulate: I like apples. I like pears. I don’t like bananas. No one speaks like that. In avoiding the…
Portuguese Modal Verbs
Modal verbs help us convey things like necessity, possibility, certainty, doubt, and ability. We use them all the time. You’d agree that the English sentences You must…
Portuguese vs. Spanish: How Similar Are They Actually?
Portuguese and Spanish are Romance languages that share a common root: they both stem from Vulgar Latin. But how similar are they? Portuguese and Spanish are different…
Portuguese Word Stress and Accent Marks
If you care about Portuguese pronunciation and want to get good at it, you’ll need to come to grips with its word stress patterns. That’s it. Here’s…
Portuguese Spelling Reform
In 1990, various Portuguese-speaking countries agreed on a spelling reform to create and maintain a cohesive, international standard across borders. In Portugal, in particular, the spelling reform came…
The Portuguese Verb Haver
If you’ve been learning Portuguese for a while, you’ve probably noticed that little word há popping up everywhere. Indeed, há is a verb form of Haver, which…
Forming the Plural in Portuguese
In Portuguese, not only nouns are spelled differently according to number (singular/plural), but also words belonging to other word classes such as adjectives, demonstratives, or possessive pronouns.…
Portuguese Future Subjunctive (Futuro do Conjuntivo) – Conjugation and Usage
If you have been learning Portuguese long enough, you know that sooner or later you’ve got to come to grips with the Future Subjunctive (Futuro do Conjuntivo).…
Portuguese Question Words
Intrepid language learners start using Portuguese nearly from day one. I love the attitude and hope you are one of them. Besides bravery, to keep conversations going…
Portuguese Reflexive Verbs and Pronouns
Reflexive verbs are abundant in Portuguese and many of them are frequently used in everyday life. It is easy for language learners – especially those unfamiliar with…
Personal Infinitive in Portuguese (Infinitivo Pessoal)
The Personal Infinitive (Infinitivo Pessoal) is unique to Portuguese and commonplace. There’s no parallel in other languages and learners of Portuguese often struggle to wrap their heads…
Portuguese Demonstrative Pronouns and Determiners
Demonstratives are words we use to point out a person or object, including their location concerning the speaker and hearer. Portuguese demonstratives work along the same lines…